March 2009

Budget proposals need voter approval

To avoid even more catastrophic cuts to state schools and colleges, CTA’s State Council of Education voted to recommend that voters support Propositions 1A-F on the May 19 Special Election.

“If any of the initiatives are defeated—with the exception of 1F—the entire budget package falls apart.”

“This is why it is crucial that we keep telling people about the drastic impact of $11 billion worth of cuts to schools and colleges.”

In February, the CTA Board took an interim position in support of one initiative, Proposition 1B, Protect Education Funding, in order to sign the ballot argument. The passage of Proposition 1B, the repayment of the $9.3 billion to education, is actually tied to the Budget Stabilization Fund, Proposition 1A, which creates a rainy day reserve fund to stabilize future state spending.

The other propositions are:

Prop. 1A requires the state to direct 3 percent of general fund revenues into a rainy day fund each year until the fund reaches 12.5 percent, except when the fund is full or during economic downturns. It’s intended to put the brakes on the state budget roller coaster and prevent deep cuts in bad economic years.

Prop. 1C is the Lottery Modernization Act. It will modernize the lottery and immediately provide $5 billion without raising taxes to address the budget crisis. If Prop. 1C fails, there will be a $5 billion hole in the state budget that was passed.

Propositions 1D and 1E temporarily redirect money from tobacco taxes and the Mental Health Trust Fund to pay for children’s health care and other social services over the next two years. If either of these initiatives fail, there will be about a billion dollar hole in the state budget, meaning deeper cuts to these vital services for children, seniors and the disabled.

Prop. 1F prohibits state legislators, the governor and other state politicians from getting pay raises whenever the state budget is running a deficit.